ill be heading to the gili islands to visit a friend and while in the country i wanted to learn to surf,, i work in thew dive industry and ian a very good swimmer, ill be in indonesia form the 1st or 2nd of dec, and ill be there for about 3weeks, i dont mind if i have to go to sumartra from bali if i have to, so long as iam going to right the place, all info greatfully received,

Take a few lessons to get the basics. The guys at 'Bali Learn to Surf' at the Hard Rock Hotel are really professional Aussie Certified Instructors. The owner's called Matt and is a top guy with loads of enthusiasm.

Loads of good breaks on Lombok but not sure where you can find a beach break which works best for learning. IMO you should start out on a beach break on a pretty slow wave to build your confidence and use a bigger board like a Mini-Mal/foam board 8ft or bigger.

Kuta Beach is okay if you hit it early in the morning about an hour before high tide, or there's a really slow wave further up the island called Medewi. Drop into any surf clothing shop and they'll give you a map of the breaks, and a tide chart. Stay off the razor reefs and watch out for the strong rips and you should be okay.